Thank God for Wanlov

Ghana’s own son Wanlov the Kubolor is a master at exposing hypocrisy. Like the Pied Piper of Hamlin the music of his magical words roots out the rats who, absorbed in their hysteria follow him into the light, made visible for all to see.

Ghana is going through another ‘funny turn’ regarding same-sex desire. Its prominent human rights activist and lawyer, Nana Oye Lithur, passed her vetting to be a government minister with unanimous agreement from the interview panel. Her crime is that she also supports LGBT rights snubbing the religious bigots whose shrill, militant voices claim that her personal views should disqualify her from office.

Wanlov saw his chance and posted the following statements on his facebook page:

The responses, full of foul language, 4-letter words and personal insults, whilst rather claiming Wanlov would bring God’s wrath onto Ghana, beautifully expose the hypocrisy of the ‘righteous’ and the redundancy of the churches and the mosques in teaching what those religions stand for. Wanlov must be chuckling away to himself!

Lol! Pressing issues? When did the protection of basic human rights become a less pressing issue in any part of the world? This isn’t just an issue. It’s a long-growing canker that has been etched into the fabric of our society. Our inability to thorougly assess an issue before passing judgement on it, is the same reason we haven’t overcome petty drawbacks to our development.

It’s a pity scripture has been unable to inform the people who responded with condemnation on Wanlov’s page. It’s because the bible is irrelevant to many Christians for whom religion is simply a means to satisfy their selfish personal desires. It is why it can no longer be the litmus test of who is moral and is why we need to debate about what morality really is – i.e. about how we treat other people – away from the confines of people’s personal interpretations of religious texts.

You know Ghana is different, the kinda stuff people do out there is the west we dont. A lot will go on air and back this whole issue up cus they know wht they might get (white aid). Look people would debate this for a long time but the truth is they are in this country, i mean homos but it is on the low. We dont need people like wanlov out in the public talking abt it. Dude i luv u for being who u are and being different but different dont mean homo. Seriously God has nothing to do with it, just think abt it everything that we do as normal humans that signals wrong or means there is something wrong. No one wants to crucify nobody jst shhh on this matter in gh and lets see how it comes out. FYI it wont work in gh trust me, no laws to back it up or condemn it but it wont work. it wud just be like prostitution period.

Ghana is different in that the law regarding anal sex is not Ghanaian but was brought by colonialism has never been addressed. The language is colonial, ambigious and meaningless now that science has progressed. We DO need people who are prepared to talk about issues – why keep everything brushed under the carpet? We need to listen to the voices of those Ghanaians who have same-sex desire and hear their hurt and pain. Cultures change – they are created by us. Many, many Ghanaians think differently on this issue now. We can no longer hide behind the excuses of religion or culture to justify hurting others.

Personally, I found Wanlov’s comments refreshing, and I also think brave especially for an Artist who like all other artists will need sponsorship from businesses etc. Sadly people in Ghana get punished for personal views, or holding progressive views on gay rights…in fact your views do not even need to be that progressive, just the mere fact that you think its okay for people to live their lives with dignity no matter what their sexual orientation is can be grounds for public condemnation as we recently saw with Nana Oye Lithur’s public vetting

This is a bit of a red herring. Firstly, some people choose to specialise in certain areas in order to be most effective. Secondly, people such as Nana Oye Lithur work in many different human rights areas. LGBT work is not her priority. It’s just that because she also happens to have this as part of her work people are hysterical over that one issue!